Both northbound lanes were temporarily blocked as crews fought the truck fire.

Posted: Mar 21, 2019 2:44 PM

Updated: Mar 21, 2019 3:06 PM

Posted By: Jamie Parfitt

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SUNNY VALLEY, Ore. —

UPDATE: The northbound slow lane of I-5 remains closed at milepost 76 due to the now-extinguished burning cantaloupe truck, according to ODOT.

"Truck and fruit appear to be a total loss," ODOT said.

Austin Prince with Rural-Metro fire confirmed that the driver of the truck was unharmed and had exited before the fire got out of hand.

(Updated 3/21/19 at 2:30 p.m.)

INITIAL REPORT: Northbound I-5 traffic began to move again late Thursday morning after a burning semi-truck carrying cantaloupe caused authorities to temporarily close both lanes.

According to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), road crews and Oregon State Police troopers had held up traffic while firefighters worked to knock down the flames.

"ODOT/OSP holding all NB lanes just prior to Sunny Valley due to a semi-truck on fire. It's carrying cantaloupe," ODOT said. "Expect delays until the fire subsides enough to let traffic through."

In short order, authorities had reopened the fast lane to let traffic through.

By just before noon on Thursday, ODOT said that crews were still on the scene of the cantaloupe truck fire. The slow lane remained blocked at that time while crews continued to work at clearing the wreckage.